What Do Elevated Ferritin Levels Mean?

Ferritin is a protein in the body in which iron is stored. It is found in the bone marrow, red blood cells, liver and spleen.

Sometimes the doctor will order a ferritin test. This involves taking a simple blood sample and checking it under a microscope.

If the levels are elevated, it is indicative of too much iron being stored elsewhere in the body.

If you have been told you have elevated ferritin levels, you are likely looking online for possible causes.

There are several reasons why your ferritin levels may be high, and here are just some of them, to give you an idea, but the best person to discuss this with is your doctor or health visitor.

Ferritin can be raised in a lot of innocent ways, so you have no cause to worry. It is what they call an acute phase reactant, and so is present as side-effect if you like, of other things going on in the body.

Like those who:

Have had a lot of blood transfusions

have an infection - even the common cold can cause raised ferritin levels

Hemochromatosis

This is a condition where too much iron is absorbed, usually from the diet, into the body. It can affect all the major organs, eventually leading to death, and so an early diagnosis and successful treatment is paramount.

It can be successfully treated by withdrawing blood, by administering certain medications, and by a slight change of diet. Caught early, you can continue to lead a normal and full life.

Hemolytic Anemia

Hemolytic anemia is the name of a type of anemia caused by the red blood cells self-destructing prematurely.

Normal red blood cells live for 4 months and are automatically replaced as new cells are made in the bone marrow, but in hemolytic anemia the new blood cells are not produced quickly enough to replace the ones that have been lost.

There are two types of hemolytic anemia:

Hereditary - you were born with it. The genes run in your family. You may have either sickle cell anemia or thalassemia, which are the two most common, but there are other conditions that are rarer that come under the heading of hemoltyic anemia.

Acquired - something caused it. The main suspects would be an incompatible blood transfusion, some medications including penicillin, and auto-immune disorders (where the body turns on itself for no apparent reason).

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